Surge in illicit use of ‘stupefying drug’ ketamine

Use of the anaesthetic ketamine is surging among music festival goers, with many believing the horse tranquilliser is safer than other drugs. But doctors warn it can have devastating effects.

A black market version of the anaesthetic ketamine — otherwise known as ‘k’, ‘Special K’ or ‘horse tranc’ — is becoming a drug of choice at music festivals and clubs, with some young people mistakenly believing it is safer than other drugs because it is used medically.

But drug experts have warned illicit ketamine can kill if taken in high doses and combined with other drugs.

Typically snorted like cocaine, new research shows nine per cent of music festival goers — and twice that in Victoria — use illicit ketamine.

It is also popular with nightclub goers.

Some doctors say they are treating increasing numbers of illicit ketamine users who have overdosed or injured themselves on the drug, which can produce psychedelic effects and cause users to feel detached from their bodies, referred to as “falling into a k-hole”.

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Police have raised concern about the resurgence of ketamine on the music festival and dance party scene.

A ‘dissociative anaesthetic’, ketamine has been used by vets and doctors safely for many years to perform medical procedures but can be toxic and unpredictable when used recreationally.

Like many other illicit drugs, ketamine can also be ‘cut’ with other dangerous substances and range in purity.

Its effects can also be drastically different in one person to the next.

Australian Alcohol and Drug Foundation spokeswoman Laura Bajurny said an as-yet-unpublished National Drug Research Institute study had examined the drug use of 2000 music festival goers in Victoria and Western Australia and found ketamine was increasingly popular, behind only alcohol, tobacco, cannabis and ecstasy.

Researcher Jodie Griggs said nine per cent of total survey respondents reported using ketamine at the last festival they attended but the figure was 18 per cent among Victorians; far higher than among Western Australians.

Emergency department director at Sydney’s St Vincent’s hospital Paul Preisz said treating ketamine users was becoming “a regular thing” in his ED.

“Anecdotally, it’s a drug which is now in common use,” he said.

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Dr Paul Preisz from Sydney’s St Vincent’s Hospital says many people are presenting at emergency with symptoms brought on by ketamine use.

“It can have a stupefying effect which can lead to people being in unsafe situations, almost like a date rape drug … what we see are the consequences of this drug. People jumping off things, people attacking each other, people getting into difficult sexual situations.”

Some Australian ketamine users are seeking rehab overseas.

Chief executive of The Dawn Medical Rehab and Wellness Centre in Chiang Mai, Thailand, Ohm Poolsawaddi, said his clinic was treating more Australians who had abused ketamine than ever before.

“Ketamine use is becoming more prevalent and we have seen many clients come in because of it, although ketamine may not be their main drug of choice,” Mr Poolsawaddi said.

“We have treated Australians in the past six months with poly drug use, with ketamine being one of the drugs.”

Ketamine is used legally to drug horses — but experts warn its recreational use is extremely dangerous.

Penington Institute chief executive John Ryan said ketamine was a fairly short-acting drug, with its effects generally lasting for an hour to 90 minutes.

The drug — which is most well known as a horse tranquilliser — could cause confusion, delirium, dizziness and reduced ability to feel pain, as well as lasting bladder damage, overdoses and even coma or death if combined with other drugs such as alcohol, amphetamines or benzodiazepines, he said.

“If young Australians are using ketamine at increased levels, this is cause for concern,” Mr Ryan said.

“I am sure some people think the pharmaceutical background of a drug makes it seem less risky, even though purchased on the black market with zero quality control.”

Ms Bajurny said it was possible young people suffered from two misconceptions concerning ketamine: Firstly that pharmaceutical drugs were safer than illegal drugs and secondly that ketamine purchased on the black market was of pharmaceutical quality.

Most ketamine users were ‘poly drug users’, meaning they used a number of drugs not just one, she said. Ketamine was considered a ‘mid-range’ drug by most users.

The Australian Border Force said it had made nearly 1500 illicit ketamine detections over the past two years; “stopping this drug at the Australia border, before it has the chance to cause harm”.

And Victoria Police statistics show ketamine possession charges have grown from a tiny three in 2010 to 46 in 2015 and 98 last year.

But drug experts say these statistics are only the tip of the iceberg, with most ketamine use going undetected by authorities.

Reformed drug addict Kane Nuttall, 33, has turned his life around since his days as an ice addict and K user. “(K) seems to be back,” he says. “You feel like you are paralysed. I don’t know what death feels like but it probably wouldn’t be very far off it,” he says. Picture: Mike Dugdale

The National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) Australian Drug Trends Report shows ketamine was popular in 2004 but dipped in popularity in 2005 and its use remained quite low until 2016, when it resurged.

Its popularity rose again in 2017 and 2018, particularly in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.

According to the report, almost 90 per cent of ketamine users snorted the drug, about 10 per cent swallowed it (it can be put in capsules or liquid), while two per cent smoked it and one per cent injected.

Nearly 45 per cent said ketamine was easy to obtain.

The median quantity used in a typical session was 0.3 grams, two lines or three “bumps” in 2018, at an average cost of about $200, the report states.

At this year’s Sydney Field Day Music Festival 194 people were charged with drug offences; some for possession of ketamine.

There have been five drug deaths at music festivals in New South Wales in the last four months.

Originally published as Surge in illicit use of ‘stupefying drug’ ketamine